Timothy“Tim”Petty

Assistant Secretary

Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Water and Science

Timothy “Tim” Petty is serving as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. The Assistant Secretary for Water and Science “oversees both the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, and guides the development of national water and science policies.”

Tim Petty is a longtime federal employee who previously worked in the Department of Interior during the George W. Bush administration. At the beginning of his career, Petty “worked in the private sector for more than 10 years in California and Indiana as a geologist and a hydrogeologist.” He lived in Moscow, Russia, for four years, working “for a non-profit educational organization,” and, after returning to the U.S., “served as a senior analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy.” From 1999 to 2006, Petty worked for the Senate Republican Conference as Director of Information Resources for Senators Connie Mack (R-FL) and Rick Santorum (R-PA). In 2006, Petty began working for the Department of the Interior as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. From 2009 to 2017, Petty worked for Senator Jim Risch as deputy legislative director “on issues of water, natural resources, environment, science, technology and telecommunications and space.”

Background Information

Previous Employers

While working in the Interior Department during the George W. Bush administration, Tim Petty promoted climate change action and alternative energy. In 2008, Petty led delegation visits to Guam and Vietnam, where he promoted alternative energy sources and responses to climate change.

Tim Petty “served as acting assistant Interior secretary and deputy assistant secretary for water and science under President George W. Bush.” [Rocky Barker, “Aide to Idaho’s Jim Risch tapped to oversee Interior water and science policy,” Idaho Statesman, 11/14/17]

In June 2008, Tim Petty was part of a delegation from Interior that went to Guam. While there, Petty spoke out about keeping the island “from relying only on fossil-fuel-powered power plants” by developing their abundant alternative energy sources including “solar, wind and perhaps wave energy.” [Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno, “White House representative visits Guam,” Pacific Daily News, 06/07/08]

Before joining the federal government, Tim Petty worked in the private sector for more than ten years in California and Indiana as a geologist and a hydrogeologist.

Petty “worked in the private sector for more than 10 years in California and Indiana as a geologist and a hydrogeologist, specializing in structural geology, surface and sub-surface water research, and environmental risk assessment.” [“Petty Tim,” University of Alaska Fairbanks, accessed 11/15/17]